I have noticed a large number of Facebook friends praising the game’s non-virtual aspects. Their children are emerging into the light, gamboling through parks and public squares, finding common ground with neighbors and other players.

It's basically the first mainstream augmented reality program. It's a game where the entire world is mapped and you walk around with the GPS on your phone. You walk around in the real world and can catch these little monsters and collect them. And everybody is playing it.

Herzog was most interested in what happens when the Pokémon appear in the virtual crosshairs:

When two persons in search of a Pokémon clash at the corner of Sunset and San Vicente is there violence? Is there murder?… Do they bite each other's hands? Do they punch each other?

He declined Yoshida’s offer to borrow her cell phone in order to try the game out, at which point Slate’s Daniel Hubbard and Forrest Wickman stepped in, cutting together footage of the game and the animated series with some of the most memorable narration from Herzog’s oevure.

Seen through the above lens, Pokémon Go becomes a reflection of our ongoing battle for survival, rife with fornication, asphyxiation, and rot. The trees and birds are in misery, and the penguins are insane.

It almost makes me want to play! Though in truth, I think another of Herzog’s activities ---venturing into the countryside “to look a chicken in the eye with great intensity”---is more my speed.

FREE UPDATES!

GET OUR DAILY EMAIL

Get the best cultural and educational resources on the web curated for you in a daily email. We never spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA

About Us

Open Culture editor Dan Colman scours the web for the best educational media. He finds the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & movies you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.